About
Leadership
Community
Commitment to Sustainability
Buildings
Ensuring preservation of the historic SHS campus and strategically planning for immediate and future physical needs, Sacred Heart leadership has taken several steps to achieve and maintain an energy efficient institution through intentional and careful stewardship.
Each year the school conserves a considerable amount of energy, thanks to the efficiency of its five LEED certified buildings. Additionally, 10 percent of the school’s total electricity use is offset by the purchase of renewable energy certificates (RECs) through the Green Schools Purchasing Consortium. The RECs come from a blend of wind, biomass and landfill-gas-to-energy projects located nationwide.
Each year the school conserves a considerable amount of energy, thanks to the efficiency of its five LEED certified buildings. Additionally, 10 percent of the school’s total electricity use is offset by the purchase of renewable energy certificates (RECs) through the Green Schools Purchasing Consortium. The RECs come from a blend of wind, biomass and landfill-gas-to-energy projects located nationwide.
Michael J. Homer Center
Opened in 2009, the Michael J. Homer Center for Science and Student Life is the first to achieve the newly created Platinum-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Schools certification in the nation - the highest LEED rating a school building can receive from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
Designed to use 69 percent less energy than a typical school in the U.S., the two-story building encompasses 44,000 square feet and was built along an east/west axis to take maximum advantage of solar access and prevailing winds to reduce the cost of heating and cooling the building. Features include natural lighting and ventilation and use of renewable and recycled materials, such as recycled cotton/denim used for insulation of the interior walls, 73 skylights throughout the building, solar panels and formaldehyde-free plywood and other sustainable wood products. Other green features include water-efficient landscaping and plumbing, photovoltaic panels, and a living roof.
Designed to use 69 percent less energy than a typical school in the U.S., the two-story building encompasses 44,000 square feet and was built along an east/west axis to take maximum advantage of solar access and prevailing winds to reduce the cost of heating and cooling the building. Features include natural lighting and ventilation and use of renewable and recycled materials, such as recycled cotton/denim used for insulation of the interior walls, 73 skylights throughout the building, solar panels and formaldehyde-free plywood and other sustainable wood products. Other green features include water-efficient landscaping and plumbing, photovoltaic panels, and a living roof.
Stevens Family Library
Awarded “Net Zero Energy” status in January 2015, the P-8 Stevens Family Library is designed to produce more energy than it uses, cutting utility costs to zero and providing energy to other buildings on campus. Ninety percent of the library’s interior is flexible design, to accommodate multiple uses and needs. As the Homer Center for Science and Student Life on the high school campus, Stevens Library was constructed using renewable and recycled materials, designed with natural lighting and ventilation, solar tubes and skylights, photovoltaic rooftop panels, and a low-flow water system along with water-efficient landscaping and a bioswale. Additionally, on the library’s southern exterior wall a descriptive mapping of the water and energy management systems is displayed as a learning tool.
William V. Campbell Academic & Arts Center
The William V. Campbell Academic & Arts Center opened in fall of 2019 on the Sacred Heart Preparatory side of campus. In 2021, the building earned both the inaugural Peninsula Clean Energy All-Electric Leadership Award, and the Green Building Award from SSMC and the American Institute of Architects’ San Mateo County Chapter.
The Campbell Center is a three-level structure that uses solar panels as its power source, and features natural day lighting to reduce electricity usage, including day lighting into the basement level. Operable windows on the second and third floor regulate temperature; radiant heating and cooling is found on all three levels through slab floors; overall regional sourcing of materials curbed transportation emissions; and approximately 70 percent of construction waste was recycled.
Lower & Middle Schools (K-8) Academic and Administrative Buildings
Opened in August 2012, the completely reconstructed 89,000-square foot Lower & Middle Schools has, as its centerpiece, four individual buildings--Johnson, Murphy, Xie, and Bergeron, as well as Stevens Library --that serve as the academic and administrative hub for the elementary school.. The entire campus is built to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver standards of the U.S. Green Building Council, consciously utilizes its energy conservation efforts as a way to educate students, and provides an overall healthier and safer environment for the students, faculty, and staff.
The latest addition to the LMS is a dedicated Kindergarten building (opened Aug 2021), a 4,000 square-foot sustainable, prefabricated structure that features renewable energy sources for both heat and light.
The latest addition to the LMS is a dedicated Kindergarten building (opened Aug 2021), a 4,000 square-foot sustainable, prefabricated structure that features renewable energy sources for both heat and light.
Sacred Heart Schools Atherton
Founded by the Society of the Sacred Heart, SHS is a Catholic, independent, co-ed day school for students in preschool through grade 12
